Luthos-Lord-of-the-Krath- Thanks! I apologize for the delay in updating. And I can foresee a good romance as well. Er, sort of…
Pandora Gillette- Hope your computer problems worked out okay. The twins thing wasn't my idea, but it has worked out nicely.
To everyone's relief, Saché woke up just before they were due to return. The final portion of the mission had taken longer than anticipated, so Panaka had decided to wait to leave until morning. He chose those resistance members he wanted to join the queen, and finished giving careful, detailed instructions to those left behind. About mid-morning, they were on their way back to Naberrie Forest.
"So what happened to you all after the invasion?" Sabé asked Saché after they had reached the speeders and the outskirts of Theed were well behind them. Their fellow riders were all absorbed in their own conversations, but she kept her voice low to ensure some privacy. "Were you captured again right away?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Saché said quietly. "Our guards were taking us to one of the safehouses. I think we would have been all right, had we not accidentally walked right into a whole battalion of droids. There were a lot more of them patrolling last week, since it was just after they invaded."
"And where did they take you?"
Saché frowned deeply. "The camps outside the city. Terrible places, Sabé. We need to get our people out of there as quickly as possible before they die of malnutrition and disease. They're not bothering to clean the water or anything. I hope all Neimoidians aren't like the Trade Federation, because otherwise they shouldn't be counted among civilized, sentient people."
"Was the governor still with you in the camp?"
"He was at first. As soon as they figured out who he was- again- they took him away. I don't know where they took him."
Sabé told her about the distress signal they'd received on Tatooine. "They must be keeping him somewhere by himself. But why were you being escorted alone in the street when we found you?"
"They must have figured out who we were as well, somehow. I suppose they wanted to question us."
Sabé nodded, then took a deep breath, daring to voice a question she was almost afraid to ask. "Saché, did you see my father anywhere?"
Saché shook her head sadly, and Sab's heart plummeted with disappointment. Then she added, "And your family? Did you see them?"
"No. Maia Daris was in the camp with us though, and many members of Parliament. I'm not sure where they were keeping the others."
"Are keeping the others," Sabé corrected her bitterly. "Hopefully not for much longer, though. I don't know much about what Her Highness plans to do, but I do know she's going to do it very soon."
"You still haven't told me why you're here at all. What happened to you all when you went away?"
Sabé told her of their adventure, from Naboo, to Tatooine, to Coruscant, and back. "Anakin is quite something," she said. "I got the impression that the Jedi were all in a flurry over him. Unfortunately, he clams up whenever I try to talk to him, but he seems to be a pretty bright kid. He reminds me a lot of Richard." The thought of Richard caused her heart to ache again, so she quickly cast about for a different topic of conversation. "You won't believe what happened on the desert planet, though. Eirtaé and I started to work out our differences, or at least… I think that's what we did."
Sach's brown eyes grew bright with interest. "Really? Oh, I sure hope you do. But what happened?"
"Rabé scolded us and then left us alone in the room together. I don't know… I still don't feel like I like her very much, but maybe that's just years of that same thinking working against me." She sighed. "I'll try to get over it. Although it makes me sick to think that all these terrible things had to happen before I could see how shallow I am."
"Yes, the trivial things always seem much more so when lives are at stake. But just think how lucky we are, until this happened anyway, to have the kind of life where we can be concerned with trivial things. I'm not saying we should all be shallow people, mind, but we lead lives where every day is not a fight for survival, as it is with others. I've always been grateful for that."
"You're a really good person, Saché. I'm sorry I shot you."
Saché blushed and giggled. "It'll be a fun story to tell when this is all over."
Sabé winced. "Yeah, I know it will. And I can imagine who will be telling it the most, too. When he's not eating, that is." She rolled her eyes.
"Private Rizzo sure wanted to come back with us, didn't he?"
"He probably would have gotten to if I hadn't gotten him shot as well. But I'm afraid he's out for the count in the battle."
"Are you scared to fight, Sabé?"
"A little. You?"
"A lot." Sach's face was very pallid in the bright sunlight filtering through the speeder window. Sabé took her hand and squeezed it comfortingly, and they spent the rest of the drive in contemplative silence.
Sabé was eager to find Padmé when they arrived, but Panaka found her first.
"I have a council with the queen and the Jedi," he said. "I'll expect you for an interview with the queen afterwards to discuss your conduct." Sabé nodded curtly, and Panaka left.
"No rest for the weary," she said, scowling at his retreating back. "That man drives me crazy." She turned to Saché, who stood there with a very neutral expression on her face, and took her by the shoulder. "Come on, let's get you settled somewhere. I know you need lots more rest than you've gotten. We can find Rabé and surprise her."
Walking through the trees, Sabé noted the presence of many Gungans weaving in and out of the Naboo here and there. "The army must have arrived," she commented.
"Sabé?" asked Saché, interrupting her train of thought. "Where did all these kids come from?"
"Kids?" Sabé asked, baffled by this question. She stopped and looked around more carefully, and was surprised to notice several children of varying ages running through the trees, laughing or playing. A few were sitting quietly, and one small boy was even propped up against a tree, sleeping.
"Look!" Saché cried, suddenly gripping Sab's elbow with one hand and pointing with the other. "Look, Sabé, it's Taren!"
"Taren Trillium? How in the name of Naboo did he get here?"
"Do you think Danae is here too?" Saché asked excitedly.
"I don't know, but I'm certainly glad he's safe. I wonder if-" Sab's next words were cut off, forgotten in her mouth as she suddenly noticed a familiar blonde head and pleasant smile approaching her from the other end of the glade. "Oh my stars," she whispered, and broke into a run.
She met her sister halfway in a fierce hug that she would be long in breaking. "Claria!"
"When we reached the outskirts of the city, we weren't quite sure where to go at first."
Claria was as calm and collected as ever. She sat with Sabé and the handmaidens in a rough circle on the forest floor. With them were several of the palace children, who'd escaped the palace with Richard and Claria on the day of the invasion.
Richard was sitting in Sab's lap. As when their mother had died, Sabé thought he was really a little too big for it, but once again she didn't particularly mind. He'd greeted her with rapturous enthusiasm, hugging her so tightly she'd nearly burst, but she'd been so ecstatic at finding her brother and sister alive, she'd not even noticed.
"How did you get out of the palace, exactly?" Eirtaé asked.
"There are lots of secret passages," Richard piped up. "I know a lot of them. We took one from the cellar which leads into the sewer system, and out onto Larben Street."
"Hey, that's where I live," Saché said, with a mild smile. She sat cross-legged, with her back perfectly straight, and her hands folded in her lap. This was in visual contrast to Rabé, who was slouched against a tree, fiddling a twig with her fingers, and looked to be on the verge of dozing off.
"Yes," Claria said. "We stopped in Madame Trillium's shop. She told us to take Taren and he would show us the fastest way to the river."
"Why didn't she come with you?" Sabé asked, concerned for her friend.
"She wanted to wait for my dad," Taren said quietly, from his seat next to Saché. "He was still at work."
There was an awkward pause, in which Sabé wondered what appropriate empty comfort she should make, but was relieved by Claria continuing the story. "Like I said, we made it out of the city along the riverbank. I don't know what we would have done then, if it hadn't been for Taren."
"What did you do, Taren?" Saché asked kindly.
He shrugged a little, and blushed. "Not much," he said. "I just went to visit Dooji, that's all."
Sabé looked quizzically at Saché. "Who's Dooji?" she asked.
Saché rolled her eyes, then turned to Taren. "Your Gungan friend, right?" she asked, then shot a pointed look back at Sabé. It was then that Sabé remembered the conversation they'd had with Danae and Taren when they'd visited her shop just after the blockade had begun, about the mysterious Gungan who'd been flitting around the outskirts of Theed at the time.
"He lives by the river," Taren continued, plucking at the grass with his small fingers. "I like to sail my boats there."
"He took us in for a couple days," Claria said. "Then he helped us get here."
"He has the most amazing speeder-boat, Sabé," Richard said, wriggling around in her lap to look up at her. "It speeds underwater. I know we have those too, but this one's a lot smaller. It's called a bongo."
"Dooji took us in pairs up the river, underwater, in the bongo," Claria said. "He brought us here. Richard and I agreed this place was best, since we know it much better than anywhere else. I think we could have stayed hidden from the droids for a long time. And Dooji helped us figure out what to eat and how to stay alive. We didn't dare go near the house."
"That would've been a long walk anyway," Sabé remarked wryly.
"Is this Dooji still here?" Eirtaé finally asked, from where she lounged by Rabé, propped up on her hands behind her. She sat forward. "That is, has he been with you all this time?"
Richard shrugged. "He's around here somewhere. He's already met the queen, if that's what you're worried about."
"Hmmm," Eirtaé mumbled, in a way that suggested she had been wondering about it, and was surprised Richard had picked up on it. Sabé gave herself a secret smile. No doubt about it, the boy was a natural. He would do well in the family business.
"Speaking of the queen," Rabé said quietly, nodding her head to some point behind Sabé. Sab's stomach twisted into a knot. The queen's conference was over. Now she would have to face her sister and try to defend her actions.
"I will speak to the handmaidens in private," Amidala ordered, though she favored the children with a smile. They all smiled back, scrambled to their feet, and proceeded to wander in multiple directions.
"Handmaiden Sabé," the queen began, and all hopes for a private tongue-lashing were scattered by the promise of justice in her voice. "Captain Panaka has informed me of your conduct in Theed, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my extreme disappointment."
And you're telling me in front of my friends because you know that's what I'd hate more than anything, Sabé cringed inwardly. Sometimes, having a sister for a superior was a most inconvenient circumstance.
"Unfortunately," the queen continued, "we cannot discipline you as we would choose, because the outcome of this battle is far more important, and every able hand is needed. Therefore, you will retain your position and rank, and will act as decoy in the battle. Captain Panaka will explain each of your duties in further detail."
"Now then," she said with a note of relieved finality, turning to Saché and Yané, "may I also say how wonderful it is to have both of you back and safe?"
"It's good to be back," Yané said with a grin. "I can't wait to help fight battle droids."
Amidala sobered. "You will not be fighting," she said. "You both need time to recover. Don't argue with me," she said in a firm voice, holding up a hand. "I'm quite determined. Besides, I need someone to stay here with the children, anyway. All the Gungans will be going to the front."
The prospect of a role of some kind, however unobtrusive, seemed to satiate the two rescuees, who subsided in their protests.
"Tell us about this Dooji, Your Highness," Sabé inquired as they all moved to follow her toward the main hub of the encampment.
Amidala smiled a little. "Dooji Bip," she said. "An amazing person, I think you'll all really like him."
Sabé considered, in private, the three Gungans with whom she already had a small measure of acquaintance. She'd already seen enough of Boss Nass and Captain Tarpals to know that Rab's assurances were correct. Not all Gungans were like Jar Jar Binks. So the idea that there might be a Gungan she actually liked (she wasn't sure she could say she particularly liked Nass or Tarpals, though she did respect them), was less farfetched. On the other hand, Padmé actually liked Jar Jar, so maybe her judgment on Gungans was less than reliable.
"This was the Gungan who kept coming into the city, yes?" Saché asked, quickening her pace a little to be nearer the queen.
Amidala nodded. "He's something of a loner. Part scientist, part scholar. Apparently, he's been interested in trying to establish ties with the Naboo for years, but received little support. I've rarely seen anyone as excited as he was when we told him about the alliance."
"Scientist?" Eirtaé asked. "What does he study?"
"Plants," the queen replied with confidence.
"And he's trying to reestablish interspecies ties?" Eirtaé asked, skeptically.
The queen shrugged, a smile playing at the corner of her lips. "Call it a hobby," she replied, eyes twinkling.
Over the course of the afternoon and evening, Sabé noticed her sister's ongoing energy. She seemed almost cheerful, though that wasn't quite the word for it. When they finally had a private moment, Sabé took an opportunity to ask her about it.
"It's a combination, actually," Padmé said, taking Sabé by surprise. She'd expected her question to be met quizzically. Clearly Padmé was just as aware of her own strange behavior. "I'm still euphoric about Richard and Claria being alive. The rest of it is just adrenaline. I'm terribly nervous about tomorrow, but I'm just so relieved that we're doing something."
Sabé remembered once reading that a common sign of a suicidal person was an upswing in his or her outward emotions just before they killed themselves. This phenomenon was attributed to feelings of relief on the person's part that their mind had been made up. Padmé seemed to be now affected by a similar phenomenon, though Sabé wished she hadn't thought of the parallel. The thought was too chilling to follow to conclusion.
The Naberries spent the evening hours together, and Sabé was grateful that the others in the camp let them be. Though Padmé felt compelled to retire early, Sabé stayed outside by the fire with Richard, and they stayed up late, counting stars and telling stories. She wasn't sure when she fell asleep.
A/N: I apologize for the delay and brevity of the update. The next will be the full Battle of Naboo, and I think you'll like its… longness.
As always, reviews welcome.
Saché